Driving in France

(source: European Union)

Information on community law 

Before registering your vehicle, the authorities will check whether it is type-approved. In addition, if the vehicle is not a new one, they may require it to undergo a roadworthiness test. 

The registration procedure is not harmonised at Community level. In other words, different procedures are applied and different documents required in the various Member States. However, national rules must comply with a number of principles under Community law. 

This Factsheet gives you some general information on these rules, and more details on the type-approval and registration procedures applied nationally.

For further information on the legal principles applicable under Community law, please refer to the Commission Communication on the type-approval and registration of vehicles previously registered in another Member State, as set out in OJ C 143 of 15.5.1996. 

If you are moving

If you are moving to a different Community Member State, you must register your vehicle in that country as soon as possible after arrival and, at any rate, within six months of moving. You should have no difficulty in getting your vehicle registered provided you follow the set procedures.

Type-approval

Type-approval procedures are carried out by national authorities to ensure that a vehicle complies with the technical characteristics (for example, safety standards) required by law. 

Vehicles that have been type-approved are issued with a Certificate of Conformity. 

Type-approval procedures have already been harmonised across the EC for individual vehicles (i.e. those with seating for no more than eight passengers) since 1 January 1996, but in certain cases, national approval procedures remain. 

You can find out whether your vehicle has undergone EC or national type-approval from the car documents or from the manufacturer. 

If your vehicle is a model which has obtained EC type-approval, the Certificate of Conformity issued by the Manufacturer is valid in all Member States of the European Community, and the national authorities must accept it.

If your vehicle has obtained national type-approval, the authorities in the country in which you are applying for registration may refuse to accept the national Certificate of Conformity only (a) if it can be shown that the vehicle represents a serious hazard to road safety or the environment, and (b) the decision is properly justified. 

The fact that your vehicle may have technical characteristics which differ from those prescribed by the national rules in the country in which you wish to register it does not, in itself, constitute a sufficient reason for refusing type-approval and registration. At any rate, the type-approval procedure may not cause you unreasonable delay or excessive cost, nor require you to obtain information which is already available in the documents at your disposal.

Roadworthiness testing

Roadworthiness tests are designed to check on the physical condition of your vehicle. 

The authorities in the country to which you are moving may require it to undergo a roadworthiness test in order to check its physical condition. 

Under Community law, though, such checks may be imposed on an imported vehicle only where they are also required for national vehicles. In addition, such tests may not be stricter for imported vehicles than for vehicles of national origin.

Registration formalities

Registration procedures have not been harmonised by the EC, so it is up to each Member State to specify the documents required for vehicle registration purposes. 

The basic content of these documents will be harmonised all over the EU from 1 June 2004 (Directive 1999/37/EC on the registration documents for vehicles).

Note: This Citizens First Factsheet is intended to provide guidance on EU law for information purposes only. It has been prepared by the European Commission with the help of national authorities and contains information on the national implementation of EU law. You are advised that the texts of Community legal instruments should be relied upon in case of doubt concerning the extent of a right or obligation arising from EU law.